


Reminisce

by kupfermaske



Series: Nibellian Anecdotes [2]
Category: Ori and the Blind Forest
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-30
Updated: 2020-03-30
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:27:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,122
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23388088
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kupfermaske/pseuds/kupfermaske
Summary: It's good to reflect on past events -- especially on how one begins their journey.
Series: Nibellian Anecdotes [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1682242
Comments: 3
Kudos: 10





	Reminisce

**Author's Note:**

> Listening to this song while reading is recommended:
> 
> The Ancestral Trees by (the utterly phenomenal) Gareth Coker
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_7qzSeeOiY

_The light of the Spirit Tree lives within us. He's the reason we're alive, he's the reason we grew._

_When he called out to find you, many years past...We were attacked, wounded and killed by our foe._

_Now these Ancestral Trees are all that's left behind. Come closer now and feel the light of Fil, the spirit inside._

***

Ori likes thinking here. 

It's not the only place he goes to do so, though. He visits his father from time to time. 

He would sit neath the canopy of shimmering verdant leaves, sometimes by himself; sometimes with some (of the many) siblings, on massive, moss-covered roots that form the Spirit Tree's grand base. He meditates on how deep they penetrate the immovable ground and serve as steadfast anchors for the tree, while also being used as wide-reaching conduits that spread his needed light across the forest. All of it reminds Ori of just how small he is with simple yet profound elegance. 

He occasionally sits on the cliff (with Naru; Gumo; Ku) on Swallows Nest that looks out on a panoramic view that had, in it, the hulking Mount Horu, the towering Ginso Tree, the looming Forlorn Ruins and, of course, the Spirit Tree as the centrepiece. It never ceases to be breathtaking, and his father suddenly seems much smaller when seen from this distance. Even Mount Horu, which he remembers climbing all too well.

He ponders over a question when sitting on that cliff: that if something truly gigantic could be made to look small with just the right distance -- something like the Spirit Tree, for instance, that had big implications in his life asides from its incredible size, couldn't the same be said for Nibel? Just how small _is_ Nibel, in comparison to the world; a world which he still had yet to see in full?

He didn't dwell on it for too long, not because it frightened him nor was it because of his not knowing the answer...he simply had family here and that was all the assurance he needed. There also would be opportunities to explore beyond the forest's boundaries someday.

Someday.

Right now, though, Ori sits cross-legged before the Ancestral Tree that is -- _was --_ Fil. As per usual, he takes his time looking over her when he first sits down.

His black, white-pupilled eyes start at the bottom. He then chooses a root at random and follows the swirling path, examining the branches that fold, twist and weave upward, along with each other. He gazes at the leaves tinged in pale jade shades and the occasional pallid bloom adorning its few boughs. Finally he reaches the top where Fil's light is most concentrated; the last remnants of her essence cradled aloft in a crown of spiralling wood.

Ori further dedicates his senses. He takes in the subtle ridges that gently ripple the wood with slight, unique depths. He listens to passing breezes as they grace its leaves, causing them, and the twigs that hold them, to arc, wave and dip. He then appreciates the wispy aura that surrounds her; the tree aglow with the Spirit Tree's light. 

Rinse and repeat. He thinks as he does so.

He remembers when he first came here with Sein and the words he had said. They had just gotten acquainted, had extinguished along the way several creatures that succumbed to the Blindness, and together firsthand saw the first few effects of the tragedy that had befallen Nibel.

He also vividly remembers how this place looked before the forest was restored to its righteous state. The grass at Fil's base was brown, dry and fragile, and they crumbled under Ori's feet as he stepped closer to receive her light. The water nearby was a sickly dark colour that reeked with stagnant pollution, filling the air with a pernicious, miasmatic odour. Ori remembered, disdainfully, how it had smelled; how it had tasted.

How different it is now. The grass is lush (very comfortable to sit in) and several flowers dot the ground ( _enough to make a flower crown_ , Ori muses). Edible, tasty mushrooms pop up here and there. The air and water are fresh, and Ori can just see, from where he sits, fish; effortlessly wriggling along. Further, the walls of the cavern have begun to see some moss growth; and if Ori remembers correctly of what growth types Naru taught him, this moss might also sprout flowers, which would give him even more reasons to return in future.

But it's not the changes in the scenery that Ori focuses on.

_Come closer now and feel the light of Fil, the spirit inside._

Ori remembers the liberating weightlessness as Fil imbued him with her light; a tingling, intoxicating sensation of newfound power being channelled into his core; a gentle burning, swelling within his chest and extending to his limbs, hands, fingers and feet. When he descended, he just _knew_ the new things he could do. And that was just the first of many.

After Fil was Ano, who gave him the ability to concentrate energy within Sein before expending it in a mighty radial blast, defending himself against creatures that sought his death. Then came Leru, who helped him jump through the air. Then Reem, Eki, Sol, Ilo, Tatsu and her brother Atsu and finally Nir. He remembered each of them and their names in his dear way.

But had it not been for Fil and, yes, while her gift to him was the simplest of all of them, Ori wouldn’t have had the slightest chance of navigating Nibel in its corrupted form. Sure, Sein was the one who fought; but he wasn't the one who gave him his first ability. That being said, had Fil not died here, he wouldn’t have met the other Ancestral Trees. And had he not met the others…

The forest would have irrevocably and most truly died. He wouldn’t even be alive today, either.

Ori is saddened that he can no longer visit some of the other Ancestral Trees. The restoration of the Spirit Tree took Sein and his abilities along with him. He can no longer climb the jagged walls of Sorrow Pass to see Nir; the Misty Woods are too dangerous to simply visit Tatsu, even after the lifting of its haze, and visiting Reem whilst submerged in the waters of the Ginso Tree would be...less than ideal, to put it lightly. 

So Ori is grateful.

He is also grateful that he can still see Fil now and then. 

And since all life is connected to the Spirit Tree through his roots, Ori hopes -- if it works in the way that he hopes he does -- that Fil passes his gratitude along to them.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading this fic that I wrote in a day. It was fun to write and it gave a refreshing break; Naru and her father's fic is the main project of this whole thing, really.
> 
> And that's a helpful tip I'd like to simply pass along: take breaks from your main writing by writing other, less important things.


End file.
